A few months ago, Federal Ammunition announced American Eagle Syntech—a new concept for range use. While there are many highly-developed loads for personal defense, seldom has much effort been expended in developing range ammunition. American Eagle Syntech is the first range-specific ammunition designed to reduce fouling and extend barrel life with a high-tech polymer bullet coating.

I get many calls, emails, and letters asking about the ‘best’ handgun load. Unfortunately, many correspondents fail to share the intended mission of the load. This has an influence on the desired bullet weight, velocity, and penetration. As an example, I am perfectly happy to run the .44 Special or .45 Colt with a 255-grain SWC at 700 fps for cowboy action or target practice. If hiking in country in which the big cats or bears may be more than a nuisance, I will run the same bullet up to 1,000 fps.

The .41 Magnum is a useful, powerful, accurate, and well-balanced cartridge. Perhaps, it is one of the best revolver cartridges ever designed. Yet, it seems to be almost on its last leg, and far down the list in popularity compared to the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. This is understandable in some ways, but the cartridge is just too good to die.

There are few subjects as prone to create an argument as personal defense handguns and calibers. Some have a “devil may care” attitude and deploy anything, stating most are the same, while others go into great, even minute detail, in their testing and choices. I think that everyone should master the personal defense handgun of their choice.

I admit, I have been a prepper—to various degrees—for decades. In that regard, my plans have always been to bug out if things got rough. As a former resident of Florida, we always rated things on the hurricane scale. For me, anything more than the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane meant bugging out to higher ground.

There has been a tremendous amount of development in ammunition during the past few years. Among the most interesting of these has been the advances in nonexpanding ammunition. These loads are intended to produce good wound potential for personal defense without the problems of jacketed hollow point manufacture and performance.

The AR platform is the Mr. Potato Head of rifles. From the .22 rimfire to the .458 SOCOM, the AR-15 is available in a host of different calibers. The newest and brightest addition to the AR-15 family is a 5.56mm diameter cartridge with more punch and long-range potential than the .223 Remington.

For those serious about safety, a good supply of personal defense and training ammunition is vital. I practice rapid, aimed fire, and do not aim for the whole target. Instead, I aim for a small area on the target. Precise fire is important, and getting the bullet to where it will do the most good is vital.

There are many firearm choices for home defense. The choice hinges on recoil tolerance, weight, bulk, expense, locale, and the shooters ability. You may choose a rifle, shotgun, or handgun, but the shotgun offers the greatest wound potential and the greatest versatility.

There are many factors to consider when choosing ammunition. Recoil, control in the individual handgun, a clean powder burn, good bullet pull, limited muzzle blast and flash, and reasonable accuracy are important.

When it comes to personal defense, many of the students that go through my class have their head on straight. They wish to avoid using the firearm at almost any cost. The bottom line is that they will use the firearm only to save their life or that of a loved one.

If you know only two things about shotguns—they go bang! and kick like a mule—you are only doing it half right. And, I am sorry to say, you know what it feels like to be kicked by a mule, but that is a story for another day. Not only does a shotgun NOT have to recoil like sledgehammer—it should not with the right ammunition and accessories.

CMMG’s MkG Guard is an AR-15 rifle that is chambered in .45 ACP and feeds from factory Glock magazines. At the heart of the Guard is the patent pending Radial Delayed Blowback operating system that works to harness the strong recoil impulse of .45 ACP. After extensive durability testing, CMMG is proud to announce that the Guard is safely rated for 450 SMC.

Handguns are the weapons of opportunity. Not as powerful as a long gun, they are portable and may be carried with us at all times. The handgun demands plenty of practice to master. The rub is that handguns kick a lot—in some calibers and in lightweight models. Until the laws of physics are changed, this is a reality. It is also a reality that the more powerful cartridges have greater wound potential and are more likely to stop a felonious assault with a minimum of well-placed shots.

We probably have more handgun calibers than we need. Some should be allowed to die a quite death. Just the same, during my career I remember scrambling to locate and actually fire such oddities as the 7.65 French Long, .32 Rimfire, and the .41 Rimfire. Quite a few old numbers might be useful even in modern times. Then there is the family heirloom that we just may want to fire.

With Christmas just days away, there is still time to buy that perfect stocking stuffer or additional gift for under the tree. Typically, the problem is deciding what to get. Here are 10 shooting-oriented ideas. The best part? Each of these presents will fit inside a Christmas stocking or fill that last hole under the tree with a guaranteed smile on Christmas morning.

Les Baer handguns are legendary 1911s with more than a little hand fitting, and a vial of the maker’s sweat included. They are built, rather than assembled, and offer topflight performance for discerning shooters.